NYC Season

On a somewhat unrelated note, I found a bunch of pictures of Diana Vishneva’s birthday party on Mari Vanna’s official Facebook page last week (anyone can view them; you don’t need an account):http://www.facebook....85.265360556968

Some of them are absolutely hysterical! Never did I ever imagine that I would see the glamorous Ms. Vishneva and Yuri Fateev, head of the ballet, decked out in aprons and chopping cucumbers together!

And the pictures near the middle are great too—looks like someone (Baimuradov, I suspect) told a naughty joke, and everyone at the table (Kondaurova, Gumerova?) is just dying of laughter.

Belatedly, (recovering from physical strain of attending all performances (I'm not complaining, my heart enjoyed Mariinsky residency in NYC))
As Batscuchan, I saw the Carmen Suite & Symphony in C live for the first time, and didn't check youtube. I was not swept away by Visheneva's Carmen (actually after first two sections, I couldn't help finding her hip swings a bit vulgar - may be it looks Ok from the family circle, but from the orchestra level, I didn't find it sexy or seductive, and I had no goose-bump. Well, I was VERY anxious to see how Lopatkina would tackle the role, and as I was told, "Vishneva used the Cuban interpretation, where Lopatkina, acknowledging the physical differences from Maya Plisetskaya, tried to deliver the SAME steps, same order & sequences, and her different interpretation - of a spoiled, careless women who plays with love & male feelings. And Toreador and unavoidable (sometimes evel) fate (POK in Russian) are parallel symbols to highlight Carmen's actions. She plays with men and love as Toreador tempts the fate and provokes a bull. And as Toreador can get hurt, so Carmen can (despite her logic and will) fall in love. She fights that emerging feeling. She prefers to tempt fate and tempt men, but gets hurt by falling in love. And as Toreador can die from a bull, so can Carmen die from the unavoidable evil fate and playing with love.
Sad, that the program did not have any synopsis, nor Mariinsky ballet has it on their web.
When I heard the interpretation, I knew what to look in Lopatkina's Carmen. Different to Batscushan, I did not find her cold. And sitting close and scrutinizing her via binoculars, I did see those sudden fluctuations of emotions and feelings radiating through her face "yep, I play with you, i know you like me. OMG, I'm falling in love, Gosh, I don't want it, zip it, I'll play with you.."
Watching Ulyana Lopatkina, I kept on thinking "less is more". I have not seen Plisetskaya, but Lopatkina made me cry.
And I can go on and on about her lines and artistry.
Very pleasantly Korzuntev gave very passionate performances both nights.
I adored Lopatkina second movement in Symphony in C. Kondaurova was great also. They are a tiny bit different, where I would describe Kondaurova as a softness princess, Lopatkina has this Royal Regal posture and presence on stage. She doesn't even have to move ;-)) just be there.
And of course I much preferred Tereshkina to Somova in the first movement, and I found the whole Symphony in C on Saturday more relaxed and danced with more heart (more passion). And since I'm not NYCB Balanchin expert, I was 300% satisfied with Mariinsky's delivery.
PS: I forgot to complement all the demi-soloist (those pairs in respective colors besides the corps), and Bravo to Corps. All soloist, demi-soloist and corp were so synchronized so even in same-lined in movement (only several times Skorik's arabesks were visually too high compared to the rest of the company). And i actually don't mind the colors (some Balanchin experts mentioned they'd prefer all white presentation), but may be if you have only 1 star (1 star pair) in the performance, they you can see them irrespecive of color, with the Mariinsky star showcase - colors helped (no need to squint my eyes). Bravo Mariinsky
Ah, so sad that they are gone. Looking forward to their DC trip in January. Envious to those Londoners who would enjoy them for 3 weeks.